Cotton bat



W. E. COCHRAN.

COTTON BAT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 14, 1920.

1,405,] 85, Patented Jan. 31, 1922,

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- W. E. COCHRAN.

COTTON BAT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I4. I920.

Patented Jan. 31, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- gwuenb'a WE Ca 0721mm W. E. COCHRAN.

COTTON BAT.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 14, 1920.

1,405,185. Patented Jan. 31, 1922.

3 SHlzETS-SHEET 3- 3n ucnfor WEQmR/w WALTER) Itil. COGJEIRAJW, 0h LOGKPOBT, NEW YORK.

mam

incense.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 31, 11 M223.

Application filed September 1a, 1920. Serial Ito. $10,345.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, /VALTER E. COCHRAN, a citizaen of the United States, residin at Loclrport, in the county of Niagara, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton Bats; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to cotton bats such as are used as fillings for quilts or comforts, and to the method of forming such bats, it being understood that when completed the bat may be used for any purpose for which it is adapted.

In the usual manufacture of bats of this character, the successive layers or laminae of cotton are fed to a carrier, with the laminae in overlapping relation, the resultant laminated sheet being cut into suitable lengths, each to constitute a bat. In ordinary practice the laminae are held together by lines of stitching extending longitudinally of the sheet, the stitching being ap plied either before or after the cutting off operation, as may be desired.

The bats made as described, are usually cut off from the sheet so that their longer dimensions are longitudinal to the sheet although they may have their longer dimensions transverse thereto. A completed quilt is somewhat longer than it is wide and the stitching running longitudinally of its tilling bat, reinforces it to Withstand the longitudinal strains to which it is subjected when in use. There is, however, no provision to withstand transverse strains to which the bat is at times subjected, both during the handling of the bat prior to its introduction as a filling, and after it is in place and in use in a quilt.

In forming a bat to embody the present= invention, the-laminae may be laid and then stitched both longitudinally and transversely, with such an arrangement that both directions of the lines of stitching are at angles to the trend of the fibers of the laminae. The result i that not only is the bat reinforced by the two series of lines of stitch ng to withstand strains longitudinally of either series, but strains in other directions are opposed by the resultant resistance the trends of the fibers in the two flights,

cross each other and are themselves crossed at intervals by the two series of line of stitching that are at right angles to each other.

Instead of laying the laminae as described, one or more of them may be fed so as to lie longitudinally of the sheet and one or more fed so as to lie in zig zag position with respect to the sheet, as just described. Or a but may be formed of a plurality of laminm all extending longitudinally of the sheet or it may be formed of a single lamina that is folded back and forth upon itself. In each lnstance, however, the final commercial. bat, for whatever use it may be put, is stitched with a series of longitudinal lines of stitching and is stitched with a series of transverse lines of stitching.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a bat embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the bat with several of the successive laminae lifted at one corner so as to show how the edges of the flights or back and forth folds of each laminae are spaced inwardly from the corresponding edges of the folds or flights of the laminae both above and below it, so that they break joints.

Figure 3 is a erspective view showing one lamina with its folds or flights at one end portion raised to illustrate the arrangement of the flights or folds with respect to one another.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2, showing a bat in which one lamina extends longitudinally of the sheet while the next lamina is zig zag to the sheet.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 2 in which the several laminae extend all longitudinally of the sheet.

Referring now to Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, there is shown a bat consisting of any desired number of raw cotton laminae, each of which is a product of what in the art is known as a carding machine, and these nber suficient to give the desired thickbid ness, to the bat.

it will be noted upon reference to the drawings that a lamina 5 is folded back and forth upon itself with the mutuallyadjacent sideedges 6 and 7 of superimposed folds in divergent relation transversely of the bat. While the angle of divergence illustrated is an acute angle, it will of course be understood that it may 'be increased to a right angle or even an obtuse an le if desired, whether or not an n per -fol or flight lies upon an adjacent old or flight of that lamina throu bout the length or extent of the fold or ight transversely of the bat. With the arrangement shown, however, in which each fold lies upon an ad'acent fold of that lamina throughout the width of the bat, a somewhat stronger bat results and its thickness is more nearly homogeneous.

The laminae which are disposed one upon another as the folds are formed, from a battery of carding machines disposed side by side and feeding to a common conveyor belt or apron, are arranged as illustrated, so that the side edges of each flight or fold of each lamina, are between the corresponding side edges of the next adjacent lamina. It will also be noticed that each side edge 7 of the fold or flight of a lamina, not only overlaps the next flight or fold 5' of: a lamina but, furthermore, overlaps the second. succeeding flight or fold 5 of the lamina.

Now it will'be understood that the fibers of the cotton tend longitudinally of each flight or fold and that with the arrangement illustrated, this tendency must, therefore, be diagonal to the completed bat and the trend of the fibers in each flight or fold of each lamina must, therefore, cross that of the next fii ht or fold.

n the actual assembly of the several laminae in the correlation above described, they constitute initially a sheet which from the battery of carding machines passes through a stitcher of any desired kind that provides it with a longitudinal series of stitches 8 that are preferably equally spaced, the sheet being cut ofi in suitable lengths beyond the stitching machine to' constitute separate bats. It will, of course, be understood that a carding machine from which each lamina is supplied, as above stated, is what is known in the particular art of treating cotton fiber, as the machine that converts the raw cotton into a single thin sheet for such subsequent mess it may be put to, while the term bat as applied to the article of manufacture constituting the present invention, refers to the completed and laminated structure to constitute a filling for a quilt particularly or for whatever use to which it may be desired to put it.

After a bat length is cut from the longiincense tudinally stitched ortion of the laminated sheet, it is provide with a transverse series of stitches 9 which it will be noted are at ri ht angles to the stitchin 8.

ow as the trends of 516 fibers of the several laminae are all diagonal to the sheet and hence to'the bat length, both the longitudinal series of stitches and the transverse series of stitches must cross the trends of the correspondingly positioned fibers so that literally a trussed structure results, in which the truss is formed by the diagonally disposed fibers and the longitudinal and transverse lines of stitching. lhis trussed structure that includes the longitudinal and transverse series of stitches in combination with the fibers having their trends diagonal to both series, efi'ectually resists strains in all directions that are incident to the handling of the bat prior to its installation as a filling or to other use, as well as these strains to which the fillin' a part of a quilt. It is ound in practice that a quilt provided with the present filling bat efiectually resists strains in all directions, whether longitudinally, transversely, diagonally or at an angle to the general plane of the filling, so that it does not become thin in places nor bunch, but maintains its proper homogeneous structure indefinitely.

Referring now to Figure 4 of the drawings, there is illustrated a bat in which the bottom lamina 10 is laid fiat instead of being folded back and forth as in the embodiment of the invention just described while the next lamina 11 is folded back and forth with a zig zag arrangement to constitute separate folds or flights, as are all of the laminae in the structure first illus trated. The next lamina 12 is laid fiat and coincides with the lamina 10 while the next lamina 13 again is folded with a zig zag arrangement, it being understood that this alternation is continued to the desired thickness of the bat.

As in the structure first described, the bat is provided with a series of longitudinally extending lines of stitching 14 that are applied preferably in the sheet, while after the bat is cut from the sheet, in the well known manner, it is provided with a series is subjected as of transverse lines of stitching 15. In this which are the ones that are folded with the zi zag arrangement. The remaining lines of stitching are transverse to the general trends of the fibers of all of the laminae.

In the arrangement shown in Figure 5 of the drawings, whether the laminae are supplied from separate carding machines and laid one upon another or whether they are formed by folding-the product of one carding machine back and forth upon itself, the two series of lines of stitching are so disposed that the lines of one series are in the direction of the trend of the fibers while the other lines are transverse to such trend. In the structure shown in Figure 5, the homogeneously arranged laminae are indicated at 16 while the series of lines of stitchin r are shown at 17 and 18 respectively.

Vhat is claimed is:

1. A hat of the character described consisting of a fibrous sheet laid in overlapping folds at angles to each other and with the trend of the fibers longitudinally of the folds and having a transverse series of stitches and a longitudinal series of stitches both of which are at angles to the trends of the fibers.

2. A bat of the class described including a lamina that is folded upon itself with the successive folds at angles to each other and separate series of stitchin at angles to each other and to the extensions of the folds engaged through the bat and providing with the folds, a trussed structure.

3. A bat of the character described comprising fibrous material in which the fibre has a definite direction of trend, the material having separate series of lines of stitching through it intersecting at such angles to each other and disposed at such angles to the trend of the fibres of the material as to constitute therewith a trussed structure.

4. An article of the class described comprising a plurality of folds and separate series of lines of stitching passed through the folds and with respect to both of which series the folds are slantingly arranged to constitute in connection with the lines of stitching, a structure trussed in the direction of the length of the bat.

5. A hat of the class described comprising a plurality of laminae secured one u on anot er, each lamina com rising fol s'that overlap and progress bot transversely and longitudinally of the bat, the ends of each line of fold of each lamina bein between the ends of the lines of fold 0 adjacent laminae, the bat havin a transverse series of stitches and a longitudinal series of stitches,

stitching and by longitudinal lines of stitching, whereby to provide a structure trussed in the plane of the bat.

7. A bat of the class described comprising a plurality of superimposed laminae having longitudinal and transverse lines of stitching, each lamina ben r disposed to constitute in connection with t 0 lines of stitching a truss extending in the lane of the bat, each lamina being ofi'set wit respect to the lamina next below with corresponding truss elements of the different laminae out of alinement.

8. A bat comprising superimposed layers of carded fibrous material havin separate intersectin series of lines of stitc ing passing throug all layers, the lines of one series being at angles to the lines of another series and the trends of the lines of stitching of the different series havin different angular relations to the genera trend of the fibre of the material.

9. A bat consisting of superimposed laminee of carded fibrous material having separate intersecting series of lines of stitching passin through all laminae, the lines of one series eing at right angles to the lines of the other series and the trends of the line of stitching of the different series havin different angular relations to the genera trend of the fibre of the material.

10. A bat comprising superimposed lam- 

